Once a prisoner of the English, Nicholas MacRory has no desire to return. But then, he cannot refuse so lucrative an offer: rescue the daughter of the powerful John de Graham and in return, the baron will invest his faithfulness, coin, and his considerable army in the Sottish cause. Nicholas doesn’t count on resistance, or that the strong-willed lass will challenge the veracity of his claims, that he is there to take her home. And he certainly doesn’t plan on being bitten by an outrageous fascination with the brave and breathtaking Alice.

Alice de Graham has spent a year in England under house arrest, taken by Edward I to ensure her father’s continued loyalty. When a handsome and mighty warrior climbs into the window of her prison, she does what any maid would do: she puts a knife to his throat. However, she has little choice but to escape with him, and it seems only a matter of time before her heart is claimed by her daring Highland rescuer.

Upon reuniting with her family, her father changes the particulars of his agreement with Nicholas, now insisting he must marry his daughter to have the de Graham army. Alice is stunned, though secretly thrilled—until she sees Nicholas’ reaction. He clearly looks as if he might rather return to an English dungeon than marry her.

Nicholas is sure he’s got nothing to offer her, neither kindness nor security in this challenging time of war, and certainly not love. Alice is sure that he is wrong and is determined to thaw his icy heart.

Marianna Sinclair has lived years in England, separated from her family and regarded only as an unpaid servant to her aunt and uncle, waiting for something better to come along. She is overjoyed when her brother comes to collect her, returning her to Scotland. Yet, her thrill is quickly diminished when she learns she’s to wed the son of a local landowner, the detestable Walter Ramsay. But even this is overshadowed as her traveling party is pursued by a fierce Highlander army. Her dismay becomes outright fear when her own brother abandons her to the coming army while he makes his escape.

Lachlan Maitland spent seven months as a prisoner of the English and bears the scars of their brutality, inside and out. He wants only to be at King Robert Bruce’s side, winning Scotland’s freedom, not chasing the bandits terrorizing the Highlands. His pursuit leads him to the half-English Mari Sinclair, and once he discovers she is betrothed to the Maitlands’ longtime enemy, he eagerly kidnaps her, hoping to trade her to the Ramsays for peace in the Highlands.

He quickly decides that she is the most confounding captive he has ever known, sweet and beyond brave, with kisses that raise long-dead hope inside Lachlan. She will challenge every bit of rage that he’s clung to over the years, one smile and one kiss at a time. Soon, he regrets that he’s made any deal with the Ramsays to trade her for peace, for Lachlan is not sure he can ever let her go.

As with all the Highlander Heroes Series, The Depths of Her Soul is a stand-alone novel. The characters from different books do sometimes interact, but these can be read in any order.

The man who has been brought to Gemma’s home to recover from wounds suffered at the hands of the English is not like any man she has ever known—cold and dark, as stormy as the windswept sea. But Gemma pretends to pays him no mind, waiting on her long-lost love to return. This man will leave, and with him the strange fascination she entertains to know more of him.

Declan recovers slowly at Gemma’s home, sour and now bitter, his scars deep. Gemma is no more than an enchanting, out-of-bounds figure, coming and going, having little to do with his direct care—until her father proposes they wed. Declan refuses outright; a bride and wife can no longer be part of his future. But then he kisses her, surprising both of them, and decides he will not leave without her.

Enraged, Gemma refuses, telling him her heart belongs to another. But Declan will not listen, and her father pushes the marriage. They depart for Windshire, with Gemma declining to play any part, either as wife or as chatelaine to his stormy castle on the coast. But she is drawn to it, to life at Windshire, and the people here. And she’s beginning to imagine that the Wolf of Windshire, as her husband is known, is not quite as icy and aloof as he would have her believe—or as she would like him to be.

When Aedan Cameron and his men save a frightened and fleeing lass from a band of border reivers, he assumes his responsibility to her is done. His captain has other ideas. And then she lifts a pair of magnificent blue eyes to him, and he is reminded of what one of the nigheanan sgàil, the daughters of shadow, predicted—that a lass with blue eyes would come. It was told she would have the power to pierce the darkness with light, and that she alone would solve the mystery of his brother’s murder. Having convinced himself this is the only reason he has any interest in her at all, he is committed to his plan to keep her at arms’ length—not an easy undertaking, as she stirs long-dead fires inside Aedan.

Gabrielle Noble is fairly certain she’s lost her mind. Either that, or she really has been thrown back in time, to the Scotland she loves in the 14th century, where the scowling Cameron chief mistakes her for some sleuthing sorceress. Sure, she’s watched quite a bit of crime TV, but she isn’t equipped to solve a murder as he expects her to do. However, that’s the least of her problems. She’d love to escape being the killer's next victim and return home to her time. And she’d like to do so with her heart intact, not broken by the fierce Scottish chieftain.

Cora Bennet is a nerdy book lover beyond thrilled to be thrown back in time. She’s read enough time-travel romance to have some pretty great expectations about her own story line in this unfolding drama. And when she meets the bold and breathtaking Lucas Thain, she’s even more excited. True, he’s moody and unapproachable, pretty frightening for his sometimes seething fury, but Cora’s not deterred. She’s not leaving the 14th century until she wins the heart of the warrior.

Lucas Thain doesn’t know what to make of the strange lass with the peculiar speech, and he’s beginning to regret coming to her rescue. He has eyes for another, always has, but even he can’t help but have his head turned by Cora, the lass who infuriates him as much as she intrigues him. When her life is threatened, Lucas realizes he will move heaven and earth, hoping he’s not too late to save her or the love she once professed to him.

Someone has made bold promises to the Highland witches in exchange for disposing of Michael MacClellan. But the nigheanan sgàil, the daughters of shadow, do not engage in murder and instead put the fierce warrior into a deep sleep, hidden inside the earth in 14th century Scotland.

Kayla Forbes is thrilled to leave the States, putting her recent break-up far behind her to study abroad at the university near Fort William in the Highlands. She had hoped to immerse herself in the history of Scotland but not quite so literally, falling backward in time as she unearthed a real-life warrior from his tomb. She might be mesmerized by the raw beauty of the man, but she knows she has to get away from him, has to find her way back to her life in the 21st century.

Michael remembers everything from the night he was put to sleep, including the witches foretelling that the one to wake him would be the one to break him. He intends to keep Kayla close to discover who betrayed him, but he’s not about to be put under her spell, no matter how effortlessly she wakens his sleeping desire.

They journey to Michael’s home, Brechmont Castle, where lies unfold and yet truth is elusive, and discover along the way that the only person worthy of trust just might be each other.

Orphaned Isabel Fitzhugh is fourteen when she first comes to Wolvesley by the sea, traveling with her cousin to see her wed to the formidable Liam MacTavish. She’s unimpressed, with both her current situation and her cousin’s husband. She thinks he is aloof and arrogant, well deserving of her cousin. But then Liam intercedes on her behalf against a mean-spirited tormentor and everything changes. He becomes a hero to young Isabel, one to whose memory she clings when he is gone.

Liam MacTavish is quite happy to ride away from his new bride in the spring of 1296, thrilled to rise to the defense of his beloved Scotland. He doesn’t return for five long years, many of those spent in an English prison, renounced by his own father, left to rot. He finds Wolvesley not at all as he remembered, derelict and all but abandoned, save for the redoubtable Isabel—whom he barely recalls—and an improbable cast of characters.

Both Liam and Isabel are tormented by grim shadows from Wolvesley’s past. Isabel’s fierce independence and easy smiles hide a far greater tragedy than Liam can ever imagine; Liam’s savage mien and coldness suggest he knows nothing else. And yet they are drawn to each other. Can they overcome the past, leaving behind the cruelty caused to each of them by the same person?

Heart of Shadows is the first book in the HEART OF A HIGHLANDER series. Each book is a stand-alone tale; the books can be read in any order.

For more than a decade, while the First War of Scottish Independence rages, fierce warrior Conall MacGregor has dreamed of the revenge he will have against the man who robbed him of his family and home. To this end, he abducts the daughter of his enemy, hoping to force a marriage and reclaim what is rightfully his. He has no idea that the stubborn lass will turn his world upside-down, and that he will be the one held captive.

Half-English Tess Munro has no plans to shame her father and people by wedding MacGregor the Murderer. Despite her tremendous fear and a regrettable liking of his kisses, she staunchly refuses to wed him. She tries often to escape, both Conall and the hateful people of Inesfree, who leave no question about their absolute distrust and dislike of the Munro prisoner.

Soon, Conall’s reasons for stealing Tess grow more distant, and Tess’s desire to flee begins to fade, but a threat greater than their own pride will challenge the very fragile existence of their growing desire for each other.

Conall MacGregor has conquered many enemies, but can he win the heart of one stubborn lass?

As with all the Highlander Heroes Series, The Touch of Her Hand is a stand-alone novel. The characters from different books do sometimes interact, but these can be read in any order.

Scotland at the beginning of the 14th century is not a peaceful place. Ross Kildare and his depleted army are headed home after months away, fighting the English, gaining no ground. In their travels, they come upon a scene of unspeakable horror, which pierces the hearts of even these hardened and battle-weary warriors.

The lone survivor, Caitrin Lorne, is beyond grief, and Ross vows to do whatever is necessary to see her brought to safety. They move on, traveling to his home, only to discover that his castle was only days ago seized by the English, who have either killed or imprisoned the people of Westcairn and are now using the castle as their own garrison.

Ross is determined to deliver Caitrin to a better place where there is no war and bloodshed, but she begs to stay with him, the only person she trusts right now. Together with his small army, they flee into the forest and make war on the enemy at Westcairn, determined to reclaim his home.

War has taken everyone and everything Ross and Caitrin have ever known. Can they find love with each other while the whole world seems to be burning down around them?

Meggie Hope thinks herself quite clever, though she’s never once stepped foot outside her home, Muirfield Hall. She is, in fact, no match for the intoxicating charms of Gabriel Jamison, her own betrothed.

She cannot ever wed him, of course. Aside from being clever, she is also afflicted with a curse that says that any man who seeks her hand will meet death before he weds her, unless there is love. When suitors begin falling prey to the curse, and Meg’s father won’t listen to reason and betroths her yet again, this time to Gabriel Jamison, she runs away rather than be held responsible for another’s demise. When Gabriel finds her, she pretends to be someone else, and he gallantly insists on returning her to her family. And her heart aches for how perfect and kind her betrothed actually is. But she cannot reveal her true identity, for Gabriel has confessed that he doesn’t believe in love and Meggie understands that he cannot be the one to break the spell. Having met him and kissed him, Meggie knows she cannot be the reason he dies.

Gabriel had no intention of ever marrying again until he decided he truly craved sons and daughters. He thinks a supposedly cursed lass should prove perfectly biddable and give him the children he desires without causing an upset to his life, without expecting any emotion from him. The lass might only be happy that anyone is still brave enough to challenge the absurd curse and take her to wife.

He hadn’t planned on Meggie Hope though, hadn’t anticipated that she would flee rather than wed him or that his heart would come to life in her presence. He knew she was lying about her identity from the start, knew within minutes of meeting her that it was going to take more than a ridiculous curse to keep him from her. First, he’ll have to convince her that the curse isn’t real. And then he’ll prove to her that he is only in danger if she leaves him.

Ada Moncriefe cannot stand by while her betrothed cruelly executes prisoners. She makes a daring plan to free the Scots warriors in the dungeon, only asking that the brave leader take her with him when they escape. Things go horribly wrong, and Ada pays a dear price for her sacrifice. Broken and scarred afterward, she lives a ghost-like existence, having no idea what her future holds.

Jamie MacKenna is haunted by the fact that he was prevented from returning to save his men-at-arms and the lass who’d freed them. With greater fervor, he thrusts himself into the war for Scottish freedom alongside the valiant warrior, William Wallace. More than a year later, he stumbles upon Ada Moncriefe in the Scottish Highlands. His guilt induces him to offer her marriage, and despite the tormenting passion that rages between them, he vows never to love her.

Soon though, Ada begins to yearn for something more with her hardened warrior husband.

As the sun sets on William Wallace’s fight for Scottish independence, Ada and Jamie must both learn to forgive and to open themselves to love.

As with all the Highlander Heroes Series, The Shadow of Her Smile  is a stand-alone novel. The characters from different books do sometimes interact, but these can be read in any order.

Julianna Elliot derives no pleasure in wedding a man she’s never set eyes upon—save that it will take her away from her heartless stepfather. But then the plans for a wedding are naught but a ruse, as something far more sinister is intended, and Julianna knows she must do whatever she can to save the MacKinnons.

Not all of Calum’s men escape his would-be bride’s home with their lives. His rage is tremendous, and he holds Julianna responsible—and as his hostage. It’s not long before Calum begins to understand that Julianna couldn’t possibly have plotted the murder of him and his men with her stepfather. Still, someone must pay for the attack, and he’s intent on bringing her home to Caerhayes to face whatever Highland justice his uncle decides upon for the brave beauty.

Julianna is terrified of the man that would have been her husband and now only wants her dead. And Calum resists mightily the desire to take her in his arms and promise no harm will ever come to her. But then a funny thing happened on the way to Caerhayes…and the once-promised pair realize that there is something greater than vengeance and fear and deadly games, something worth fighting for.

Heart of Stone is part of the HEART OF A HIGHLANDER series. Each book is a stand-alone tale; the books can be read in any order.